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LP
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MMLP 019LP
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Les Idoles is a mythical record of sixties psych rock prefiguring punk. A work which in style had no equivalent in France at the time. Thanks to the performance of the Rollsticks, a rock band created from scratch with musicians from different musical worlds, to accompany the erratic vocalizations of actors Pierre Clémenti, Bulle Ogier, and Jean-Pierre Kalfon. The band consists of Patrick Greussay (later of Calcium) on the drums and guitars, Stephane Vilar (later of Calcium, PLVG), Didier Léon (future accomplice of Barney Wilen), Didier Malherbe (later of Gong and Clearlight, amongst others), Jacques Zins (later of Calcium), and with the participation of Yvan Julien (jazzman, composer, trumpeter, conductor), and Michel Portal (jazzman, composer, saxophonist). The recording of this album is different from the album Les Idoles published in 1967, recorded in June 1966 in Barclay studios. The record company needed to make the record when the film was released to have the music recorded six months in advance, as it was practiced at the time. The unreleased recordings offered here were made during the shooting of the film, in 1967 at the Davout Studio to use in the film. During these sessions, the musicians really knew the repertoire inside out and the music is more intense, more powerful, which makes it very interesting. Made from master tapes found in the archives, this new album with the exception of "Et floc c'est la tasse" and "Chanson de l'archevêque" dispensable titles whose tapes have been definitively lost, includes practically the same titles as the 1967 album, but in different interpretations to which unreleased instrumentals have been added. No film captures the glittering, zombified world of yé-yé pop royalty with as much style as Marc'O's 1968 musical Les Idoles. Seen today, this flamboyant tale of complicity and revolt yields multifaceted readings -- as backstage drama, as denunciation of consumer capitalism, and as the historical record of a crucial meeting between commercial auteurism and the avant-garde. He quickly attracted a motivated troupe of almost-unknowns and built up a repertoire of original works like Les Bargasses. The stage version of Les Idoles was among the group's last and most successful productions. Teetering on the verge of chaos (there was a standing offer of free tickets to anyone who rode into the theater on a motorcycle), its open structure and physically demanding roles recalled the confrontational performance ethic of The Living Theatre... Color vinyl; gatefold; includes three inserts.
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